http://www.newegg.com/special/shellshoc ... NEFL052710

1. BIOSTAR A770E AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

( $10.00 Mail-In Rebate pdf )

AMD

2. AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX240OCK23GQ - OEM

Combo Discount:$43.00
Today:$69.98*
*After $10.00 Mail-In Rebate

isn't this the Athlon that can unlock into a Phenom II X4?


Lots of good deals here:

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Ma ... GNEFL05271

I thought all Athlon X2s were native dual-cores, so no unlocking...

I know the Athlon X3s and Phenom II's all have a chance to unlock though.

Some Athlon II cpu's can be Phenom II based (they can just as easily be native Athlon II also, I guess it just depends on what AMD has on hand to make the model at the time). Its just a yield management exercise and a way to sell slightly "faulty" cpu's.

My cousin got really lucky with an Athlon X2 that he successfully unlocked into a Phenom II X4; he not only got the unlock, he got an easy overclock to 3.3 GHz with the stock cooler. It turned out SO nice that he upgraded his PoSU Coolmax "750" Watt (try *maybe* 400W ) to a Cooler Master Silent Power 600 W and his 9800Gx2 to a HD 4870-X2. And his CPU cooler is now a stock Phenom II X4 cooler with the heatpipes.


Phenominal (pun intended) bang for buck as a gaming PC; it is mostly for racing games and GRID looks and runs great on it .. So good,, i hear he now has a steering wheel and foot control (so much for "inexpensive upgrade", however)

You can't play racing games properly without a good steering wheel setup, a wise investment if he likes that sort of game.

Yea, I got lucky with my Calisto 550, haven't pushed it yet though; its sitting at 3.4GHz at stock voltage I think.

I just recently got a x3; haven't tried unlocking it to an X4, I may get lucky again!

i have personally been twice unlucky with unlocking - neither my 550 X2 nor my 720 X3 Phenom IIs would unlock


But they overclocked each nicely to 3.9 GHz



For his nephew .. of course

bugger making excuses for liking to game, no matter what your age. I make no apologies to anyone for liking gaming, and you being older than me by a fair amount should know this even better than me.

i played Pong on the first console and my first PC was game-oriented, Atari 800XL


They were just as fun then too

Yes, I think the problem with most "older" folk is they have forgotten what having fun was all about. I've always gamed on all my systems, as well as learned all about them and used them to do productive stuff, but frankly, if I were to limit myself to just productive stuff nowadays my laptop would be overkill.